Website: somethingsavage.com

Education Background (school / self taught, etc):
B.F.A. in Graphic Design from SUNY Purchase (state school represent).

Where you first worked and when (visual/graphic design job, etc):
My first long-term job out of school was on-air design/animation for Comedy Central about 5 years ago. They were in a confused place brand-wise, getting tired of the paint splats and not sure where to go, so I got to experiment a lot with the logo. It was an amazing experience.

Favorite book ever (design or non-design related):
Walt Disney Animation Studios: The Archive Series. Animation, Design, and Story editions. (I have the Layout & Background edition on my Amazon wish list.)

Recommended design / thinking / creativity / illustration book(s):
See above.

1. What made you decide to do what you do?
I was obsessed with cartoons as a kid and wanted to be a Disney animator. My uncle always tells this story of me screaming “NO MUPPETS!!!” when they would try to watch Sesame Street. I ended up going to college for percussion performance, so things shifted a little bit. After realizing how much I HATED practicing the marimba 10 hours a day, I saw a skate video called “One Step Beyond” made by the guys that later formed Shilo Studios. It had tons of cheesy, fake infographics and effects—I was hooked. I downloaded a pirated copy of After Effects the next day and started looking into changing majors.

I want to add that my opinion on Muppets has changed, especially after seeing the Jim Henson exhibit at the Museum of Moving Images!

2. What’s your process for conceiving new designs/projects?
If it is for a client, then I go about it traditionally: brainstorm, sketch, mood board, style frames, storyboards, animatic, test animation, and animation.

When I do my own projects, I like to “designimate”, meaning I start with an idea and let it evolve as I animate rather than having the design set in stone beforehand. The end result is usually something you didn’t expect… which is why it wouldn’t work with a client.

3. What do you regret not learning while you were in school?
When I transferred internally to the art program I was relieved of a few intro classes. I seriously kick myself EVERY day for not taking advantage of those. But I am currently enrolled in a figure drawing class at SVA; better late then never!

4. What’s your most valuable ability? i.e. conceptualization, hand/computer skills, etc.
Design for large scale installations and understanding interactive technology. Not many people are doing this, and I was fortunate to learn all this while working with the LAB at Rockwellgroup.

Click here to watch: Cosmopolitan Hotel, West Lobby.
Client: Cosmopolitan Hotel Las Vegas Agency: Rockwell Group

5. What, in your opinion, is the most exciting aspect of the art/design world right now?
iPads! There are so many possibilities to make cartoons interactive. I am in the process of conceptualizing my own.

6. If you could move anywhere right now, in consideration of the art/design scene, where would you go?
If I move anywhere, it would be to live for cheap so I could work on my own projects all day. PDX is always in the back of my mind, but the amount of opportunity in NYC is impossible to pass up.

7. What’s your daily routine?
Too inconsistent to list.

8. What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you, regarding design or otherwise?
“Watch your step.” – My Grandpa

9. Who would you call a mentor / attribute as the inspiration in how you work / do things?
Bill Deere, the team I interned for at SpotCo, and Salih Abdul-Karim was a huge inspiration for how I animate.

Click here to watch Visuals for Kanye’s Glow in the Dark tour
Client: Kanye West / Absolut Vodka

10. If you had just one piece of advice for students / new grads, what would it be?
Don’t settle on your first job. If you can, freelance there for a few weeks to make sure it’s the right fit. I went to 3 different studios / networks before settling in at Comedy Central.

Also, don’t be afraid to ask for more money.

11. How do you avoid getting discouraged? How do you get out of a rut?
I bitch nonstop to friends on iChat. Not sure how I get out of it, but it always works out.

12. What is the most unexpected thing you’ve learned since graduating?
It’s just a job, and that “cool” studio is most likely a sweatshop.

13. What are the unspoken rules in design? Are there things you simply can or cannot do? Are there any true taboos?
Stay away from tutorial sites that just show you trendy tricks—all student reels are starting to look the same.

Click here to watch GIF SHOP – animated .gif maker for your iPhone.

Education Background (school / self taught, etc):
Syracuse University, BFA in Illustration with a minor in Business Management — I took a few design classes in school, design really came afterwards with on-the-job training and some very kind people along the way that took the time to mentor me.

Where you first worked and when (visual/graphic design job, etc):
My career started In New York City and my first job out of school was a Jr. Interactive Design… I lasted 3 months. I then moved to a small design firm working on movie posters and fashion.

Favorite book ever (design or non-design related):
Design Form & Chaos by Paul Rand

Recommended design / thinking / creativity / illustration book(s):
There’s a lot! A few of my favorites in the current rotation are:
Design Form & Chaos by Paul Rand
Creativity for Designers by Mark Oldach
Made You Look by Stefan Sagmeister
79 Short Essays on Design by Michael Beirut
Tibor Kalman: Perverse Optimist

1. What made you decide to do what you do?
I read Design Form & Chaos by Paul Rand at the MoMA in NYC one afternoon. I read that book from cover-to-cover and something about it just called to me and it felt like the right thing. Ironically enough, I didn’t really like my first design class in school.

2. What’s your process for conceiving new designs/projects?
My process is kinda odd… a lot of times I try not to think about the problem so you can find me trying to find some sort of distraction to keep my mind preoccupied, ie. staring at the wall (seriously). I’ve found that I first need to understand the story from a narrative point-of-view before thinking about the aesthetics. I’ve found that the key to my process is to not think about the design problem and to approach the problem as if I don’t know anything about it. It may mean that I look in the wrong places for the answers or asking the dumb questions but it allows me to keep an open mind and to uncover the truth in a way that is simple, thoughtful and hopefully, unexpected.

3. What do you regret not learning while you were in school?
Design. I sometimes wish that my design training was a little more formal and structured rather than figuring it out along the way.

4. What’s your most valuable ability? i.e. conceptualization, hand/computer skills, etc.
I’d like to think my most valuable ability is in develop ideas but to be honest, I think those that have worked with me are better suited to answer this question.

5. What, in your opinion, is the most exciting aspect of the art/design world right now?
Wow, there’s really a lot to be excited. To me, the most exciting aspect of design these days is the realization that design has the ability to affect change.

6. If you could move anywhere right now, in consideration of the art/design scene, where would you go?
That’s kind of a tough question because I’m happy with where I am right now. There’s always a need and a want to do something more, and to do something else, but I think it’s more important to keep things simple, be mindful of the present and to appreciate what one has.

Other than design, I’d like to move to Zermatt, Switzerland so I can snowboard all day and eat my up and down the mountain all day long.

7. What’s your daily routine?
Wake up.
Kick myself for going to bed late.
Take a shower.
Get dressed.
Check Twitter, CNN.com, Facebook, superherohype.com and supermanhomepage.com
Make coffee.
Make the bed.
Realize I’m running late.
Walk to work.
Arrive about 10 – 15 minutes late (bad habit).
Check & respond to email.
Work.
Think about lunch.
Do more work.
Think more about lunch.
Do more work.
Eat lunch.
Do more work.
Eat a snack.
Check & respond to more email.
End the work day (whenever that is) and walk home.
Work on AIGA stuff.
Relax.
Sleep (whenever that is, I usually go to bed pretty late).
Repeat.

8. What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you, regarding design or otherwise?
This is advice that I received when I graduated and started looking for a job:
“Don’t worry about the money. Or the fame. Find someone to nurture you and never loose that fire.” – John Waters

9. Who would you call a mentor / attribute as the inspiration in how you work / do things?
There’s been a lot over the years. I’ve picked up something from everyone along the way. The most obvious inspiration is Paul Rand. To name a few, my key mentors have been: Jon Wretlind, Bill Tomlinson, Bob Kellerman, Tom Laidlaw, Michael Weymouth and John Bielenberg.

10. If you had just one piece of advice for students / new grads, what would it be?
Find what you love about design (or whatever) and do it. Life is too short to wait for something to happen.

Info Set:

Name:
Dan Ibarra/Principal, Aesthetic Apparatus

Education Background (school / self taught, etc):
Design: Madison Area Technical College/Printmaking: Self-taught

Where you first worked and when (visual/graphic design job, etc):
In 1996 I was hired right out of school as a graphic designer for the software company Sonic Foundry. I think I was employee number 20. I was also 20 years old. I left a year and a half later.

Favorite book ever (design or non-design related):
Uncle Shelby’s ABZ book. Hands down best writing ever.

Recommended design / thinking / creativity / illustration book(s):
Every designer should read (that’s read, not just look at the pretty pictures) Tibor Kalman “Perverse Optimist” at least once but preferably twelve times.

The Introspective / Inspiration Set:

1. What made you decide to do what you do?
Initially I didn’t have any choice, I wanted to pursue art and the commercial art program at the technical school was the closest my GPA could get me. But within the first six months I realized that all the band logos that I had drawn on my assignment notebooks and the t-shirts that I had made in high-school were actually a creative category of their own.

2. What’s your process for conceiving new designs/projects?
Research as much as possible about the subject, attempt to know if front to back; sketch (by hand and digitally) horrible idea after horrible idea; see a glimmer of a good idea in one horrible idea; pursue that idea; over-think that initial good idea until it’s dead; repeat process until a good idea sticks.

3. What do you regret not learning while you were in school?
I received a really strong production-design education while in class. I spent all my free-time outside of class teaching myself everything else I wanted to know (type design, printmaking, design history, etc.) If you regret not learning something in school that you really wanted to know, it’s your fault for not pursuing it. Nobody is handcuffing your education. If you want to learn about it, then go learn about it.

4. What’s your most valuable ability? i.e. conceptualization, hand/computer skills, etc.
I guess my most valuable ability is a lot of patience and resolve to solve whatever problem is in front of me. It’s an overwhelming desire to really understand something. I think it stems from my constant self-education while in school.

5. What, in your opinion, is the most exciting aspect of the art/design world right now?
The most exciting thing for me is the fact that graphic design doesn’t know WHAT the fuck it is right now. How does graphic design exist amongst revolutionary contemporary ideas like sustainability, intellectual ownership, biomimicry, etc; all these issues that are being tackled by other art and design disciplines. Graphic design is trying to figure it’s shit out. I like not knowing what the future holds.

6. If you could move anywhere right now, in consideration of the art/design scene, where would you go?
I would move the city of Minneapolis 500 miles south.

7. What’s your daily routine?
6:55 – wake up to my six-month-old daughter waking up next to me, inadvertently slapping me in the face.
9:00 – Arrive at studio (via bike)
9:00-10:00 – coffee/internet/email
10:00-1:00 design or prep films/screens for printing
1:00 – lunch (today, vietnamese bahn-mi sandwich from the Seward Co-op)
2:00-4:00 Continue designing or print poster
4:00 – Drink a beer, continue designing/printing. Or if it’s a slow day, check out gigposters.com
5:30ish – Bike home.

8. What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you, regarding design or otherwise?
Our old boss at Planet Propaganda told us before we left; there are three criteria to assess a design job with: money, timeline and creativity. Make sure the job consists of at least two of these agreeable critieria. If only one of the criteria is agreeable, do not take the job. You will rarely, if ever, have the opportunity to work on a job that is agreeable on all three criteria

9. Who would you call a mentor / attribute as the inspiration in how you work / do things?
It’s our boilerplate reply, but it’s still the truth; our test prints are always the most inspiring thing in our design discipline. Here is a genuine piece of trash that, through a completely unconscious and organic process, becomes layered with some much imagery and color that it becomes it’s own beautiful work of art. What is the most humbling are our attempts to recreate test prints that look “okay” but seem to never successfully display the vibrance, inventiveness or surprise that comes with one of these prints. So, basically, our trash is the most beautiful thing we make.

10. If you had just one piece of advice for students / new grads, what would it be?
Don’t worry about getting a dream job right out of school. Get an easy job that you can learn from but isn’t too creatively taxing. Then take all your creative energy and newfound income and invest it all in whatever it is that really inspires you. Spend all your free-time doing that without any regard for profit or notoriety. Continue until you meet someone that shares your same vision. Partner with that person and work with them for as long as possible.

Check out more from Dan and Aesthetic Apparatus here.

General Intro/Info Set:

Name:
Will Bryant

Company Name:
Member of Public School

Education Background:
BFA (Graphic Design) from Mississippi State University (2008). I plan on getting my MFA in the next few years!

First Real Job Ever:
Define “real.” haha, I’ve never worked on salary. In high school I worked at this hip shoe store, the Gap one summer, and random jobs for family friends. I had a student design job for a semester and an internship for a year during college. Straight out of college I just kept freelancing.

First Real Job That Racks Up Social Security Miles:
uhhhhh, I’m an Eagle Scout.

First Design Job:
During college I was a student graphic designer for the Carl Small Town Center for a semester, and then a graphic design intern for the Public Design Center for a year. At the PDC I worked for Clifton Burt & Kate Bingaman-Burt. I learned a lot a lot and made loads of stuff. Definitely a defining moment in my career to be surrounded by learning opportunities, thinkers, and makers.

Favorite book ever:
I wish I knew how to read good. haha, but seriously. My attention span just kills my ability to enjoy a book. My brain and eyes jump between the lines and through the pages. However, my favorite book would have to be The Great Divorce. It sutras up a lot of bizarre imagery and textures for me.

Favorite book design/illustration related:
“This Is…” series by M. Sasek, Hand Job: A Catalogue of Type, Beautiful Losers

Recommended design / thinking / creativity / illustration book/mag/blog(s):
Frank Chimero’s blog, Grain Edit, Good Magazine

The Introspective / Inspiration Set:

1. What made you decide to do what you do?
I never really decided, I honestly feel like this is what I’m supposed to do and every life experience was designed to lead up to my current state. It’s a blessing to be called to make stuff that leads to engaging with people from around the world.

2. What’s your process for conceiving new designs/projects?
Unfortunately, a lot of times the idea just falls on my head or stirs me in my sleep. Too often I think of something in the shower and forget it before I can jot it down in my scout book. Once I recall an idea I pick up a drawing pen and paper. Most of the time new designs/projects are pieced together by stream of consciousness drawing sessions. After these are scanned in I make more critical thinking decisions and try to make sense of the nonsense.

3. What do you regret not learning while you were in school?
Learning & retaining web/code, american history, geography, among other general subjects.

4. What’s your most valuable ability?
Connecting with people.

5. What, in your opinion, is the most exciting aspect of the art/design world right now?
Collaborating!

6. If you could move anywhere right now, in consideration of the art/design scene, where would you go?
First off, I LOVE Austin. Especially where the art/design scene is. It’s at an exciting state. The obvious place I’d like to head to is Portland! I hope to spend some time there at some point. Either for school or work or both!

7. What’s your daily/weekly routine?
I like to start my day by going for a run or working out. I often do some chores around the house before heading to the studio around 8 or 9. Spend the day making stuff, blogging, and fighting the email dragon. I try to have lunch with my wife a couple times a week. The afternoon usually turns into a scramble and head home around 6. Sally and I play wii, cook dinner, watch a movie or just do something together. I often do some blogging or emailing in the evenings and sometimes some drawing before bed.

8. What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you, regarding design? work? life?
Don’t wait for permission. Honor your mother and father. Do a good turn daily.

9. Who would you call a mentor / attribute as someone who’s inspired you most / influenced how you work / do things?
Kate Bingaman-Burt, Frank Chimero, and fellow members of Public School.

10. If you had just one piece of advice for students / new grads, what would it be?
Be honest; with yourself and with others.

The Will Bryant Set:

1. Most fun project you’ve gotten to do in the last year.
2010 has been incredibly good to me! Working at the SXSW Fader Fort for Converse was a lot of fun! Working with Mark Menjivar for TRLA has been really rad too.

2. Project you’ve learned the most from. What’d you learn?
Every project is a learning experience. Especially on the business side of things. Estimates, invoices, write offs, time management, and being organized are things I’m constantly trying to learn more about.

3. Public School: how long have you been involved w/ Public School, how’d you get into it, do you plan on building tenure?
I’ve been a member of Public School since June 2009. I got in by handing out free stuff and hanging around their old studio. We’re just enjoying the ride right now!

4. Projects for clients. Projects on the side for fun. What’s the ratio for you at any given time?
For me…i have my peanut butter and my jelly. I prefer to mix the two. Sometimes I add honey. I try to apply this to work and so far a lot of the client work as been fun.

5. Do you have a favorite Will Bryant activity?What are your top 3 favorite mediums in order.
#1.Stuff
#2.The internet
#3.1990s basketball players

6. If you had to pick any other job you’d do – that had nothing to do w/ illustration / design / art… what would it be?
I hope to someday get my MFA and become a professsssor, but aside from that I’d probably be a bicycle cop or a high school basketball coach.

You can see Will’s contribution to Winners Press’s Winners Winning amongst lots of other releases (subscribe to Good mag? If not, you should…). For even more Will Bryant, visit will-bryant.com which should lead you to even more Will Bryant (like twitter, etsy, etc).

Name(s) + Company:
Jeff Barfoot, BarfootWorldwide

Education Background (school / self taught, etc):
I have a degree in Marine Biology (that comes in way handy), and then degrees in illustration and graphic design from the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Where you first worked (in design / illustration, etc):
When I first graduated, I sort of had two jobs. During college, I had a newspaper cartoon, and I was fortune enough to get it syndicated and into a few national newspapers. At the same time, I got my first design job in Dallas, at Eisenberg And Associates. That was a hard first year – I would work long days on mostly annual reports, then come home at night and try to be funny and get my strip done. I was working 80-90 hour weeks there for about the first 10 months, and I had just moved to Texas so I had no friends. I eventually had to decide between one of the other, and I chose to discontinue the strip, and I don’t regret it. I have had a very fortuitous design career.

Favorite book ever (design or non-design related):
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. I love this book – Mr. Bryson takes big science (like evolution, the big bang, etc.) and boils it down into very graspable chunks. It’s like information design in words.

Recommended design / thinking / illustration book(s):
Oh, I have a bunch I love. Here’s a list of five:
1. Paul Rand by Stephen Heller
I love Paul Rand, and this is a very difinitive sampling of his work, and Heller, a great writer, really gives an insight into the man.

2. Marks of Excellence by Per Mollerup
Not just a logo book. This one really explains the history of what a logo is, gets into semiotics and symbology.

3. Otl Aicher by Markus Rathgeb
Aicher is one of my all-time favorite designers. And for my money, he did the greatest Olympics program of all time, the 1972 Munich Olympics.

4. Design and Science: The Life and Work of Will Burtin by R. Roger Remington and Robert Fripp
Another favorite designer, but Burtin appeals to my geeky science side. Burtin did a lot of exhibit and textbook design, and had a knack for taking a complex scientific subject and visually interpreting it in a simple way that anyone could understand.

5. The Pixar Touch by David A. Price
I love, love, love Pixar. Everything they touch turns to gold. This is a good book on their history and insight into their thinking.

1. What made you decide to become a designer?
Actually, it was a Fruitopia® bottlecap (and don’t go Googling “Fruitopia” and judge – the design is terrible now, but when I was in school it was well-designed). I was getting into more and more complicated ecology/biology classes, and I kept thinking that it just didn’t feel like the right thing. That semester I was taking this horribly complicated population statistics class at the same time as my very first into to design class. I was sitting in the middle of the statistics class, in the back row, and I was drinking the Fruitopia. I looked down at the cap, and I realized that someone, somewhere came up with that, drew the letters, drew the logo, designed the label, and it felt right. This is not a lie – I got up in and walked out of class, straight to the admin building and changed my major to design.

2. What’s your process for conceiving new designs?
I’ll answer this on with some advice: draw, draw, draw, draw, draw. I try to solve as much as possible on paper first. It might sound like an antiquated way of dong things to students sometimes, but solving on paper is the fastest way to work things out. I do very loose ideas and sketched on paper, and then do refined pencils before I decide what to work up on the computer. I can’t tell you how much time this saves. I’ve had a few times where I’ll have a loose idea in my head and sat down and pushed things around in the computer. I feel that the times I’ve done that, the work isn’t any worse, but it takes me twice as long to arrive at the solution I’m happy with.

3. What do you regret not learning while you were in school?
I loved to draw, and I wanted to become an illustrator very badly, so I took a lot of drawing and illustration classes. I wish that I had taken a few photography classes; I still know almost nothing about how to take real, professional photographs, although I’ve learned a lot about lighting and styling over the years.

4. What’s your most valuable ability? i.e. conceptualization, hand/computer skills, etc.
Definitely my conceptual skills. I love to learn and read, and I love to solve problems in a clever way. I like taking a message and solving it visually or through marketing. I’ve grown a lot aesthetically, I think. I did a lot of annual reports and b2b work at my first job, and that’s a good way to hone your conceptual skills. Afterwards, I worked for a shop that did a lot of fashion and retail work. I hated it at first, felt a little out of my element, but I think that I really grew a lot during that time, and my visual abilities kind of caught up to my conceptual ones. Also, my wife is a fantastic art director and stylist, and I have learned a lot from being around her as well.

5. What is the most exciting aspect of the art/design world right now?
There is a huge illustration revival right now, which is a refreshing change from the ultra-slick photoshop phase we’re coming out of. I see more illustration everywhere, in ads and broadcast, movie posters, packaging. I love integrating illustration into my design, and I’m excited about this. Especially because of selling illustration to a client: most corporate clients are more comfortable with something if they see someone else doing something similar, even though they strive to be different from their competitors.

6. If you could move anywhere right now, in consideration of the art/design scene, where would you go?
I used to want to move to Portland or Seattle, I loved the music work being done up there. I know it will sound cliché, but this is a great time to be a designer or illustrator because you can run a studio literally anywhere, and have client exchanges over email and the phone no problem. My newest client is in New York, which I love, but I’ve never met him in person. I really like Dallas (I’m from Colorado originally). The design community is very strong here, and the cost of living is low.

7. What’s your daily routine?
I am most productive in the morning and late at night, at least, that’s when my mind is sharpest. The afternoon is my low time. So when I get up, I try to do any concepting and sketching then, and use the afternoon for doing computer work, layouts and rendering logos, that kind of thing. I try not to answer email in the morning, and keep that time free. The afternoon is when I talk to suppliers, clients, email, and take care of business things, billing etc. I get a second wind after dinner, and usually have another productive chunk of time from about 8 to midnight or 1. I’ve never needed a lot of sleep, so it’s a good thing for me.

8. What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you, regarding design or otherwise?
This isn’t something that anyone told me, per se, but something I have noticed and tried to live. I think that in order to be a truly great designer, you need to stop thinking of design as a job, and think of it as a lifestyle. I really have embraced being creative, and let that into every part of my life. Our home is like a live-in studio in a lot of ways. My wife (my partner) and I use the dining room as a work area, and we really enjoy creating and bouncing ideas back and fourth all of the time. I really try to always be “on”, receptive to ideas that can come at any time, can spark while Im cooking dinner or in the shower or reading my kids a bedtime story.

9. In illustration/design, do you think is it more important to have a very distinct and solid style or have more of a range of styles?
I think that as a designer, striving to maintain a style is a horrible thing. This is a huge disservice to your clients. Clients come to a designer to help them find a unique voice and identity against their competitors and the visual landscape in general. A style makes everything look similar, so this is at odds with what you should be doing for your clients. Now that’s not to say that can’t have a philosophy that ties all of your work together – which is something a studio should have. We strive to do smart, bright work that’s clever, colorful, positive, and a little funny when possible.

10. Who would you call a mentor / attribute as the inspiration in how you work / do things?
I have learned the most from two people, and they have influenced me in opposite ways. Jack Summerford is a designer here in Dallas, and has a philosophy of simplify, simplify, simplify. He can strip a complex idea down to it’s smallest derivative, the simplest solution. My wife is a very gifted art director and stylist, and is very good with patterns, trends, and adding richness to projects. I’ve learned to really find a balance between the two – to communicate a concept in the clearest way possible, but make it visually rewarding to the viewer/user.

See more of Jeff’s work at barfootworldwide.com

Education Background (school / self taught, etc):
Jeff has degrees in Marine Biology, Illustration and Graphic Design from the University of Arizona. Shay has a degrees in Communication Design and German from the University of North Texas.

Where you first worked:
Shay: My first job was at Tractorbeam, a small studio in Dallas. At Tractorbeam, I was my own account manager, my own production artist, own stylist, my own everything (which isn’t a complaint, that’s very typical for a small studio), which made it hard to focus on creative. So I decided to work for Fossil, and I love the fashion industry and culture there.

Jeff: My first job was a cartoon strip. I had one in my college newspaper, and I got picked up by a syndicate my senior year. It was in a few newspapers around the country, which was neat, but it was so much work (a daily and weekend comic strip) for so little cash. I eventually had to call it quits in favor of my design career, but I don’t regret that. I love design and illustration, and the cartoon life is a hard one to break into.

Favorite book ever:
Eames Design by Neuhart, Neuhart and Eames. Charles and Rey Eames are a huge inspiration for us. If you don’t know them, they were an amazing husband and wife design team that made absolutely gorgeous and smart furniture, textiles, posters, products, toys. Everything they did was beautiful, and they collaborated on everything, and shared a studio together.

Shay: We are huge readers, and I have to get these in! Favorite non-design books are Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger and The God of All Things by Arundhati Roy.

Recommended design / thinking / illustration book(s):
Oh gosh. We could write this whole interview on books we recommend. But here are a few that have inspired us.

1. Charlie Harper by Todd Oldham. We are compared to Charlie Harper a lot. He was a painter and illustrator, and is best known for his screen prints of birds. We are so inspired by him, and we love to design birds as he did. But we are very careful not to step on his legacy – we try to mix our styles and although we are enamored with him, we don’t want to plagiarize him.

2. The Complete Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson. Not just because of my cartooning background (Jeff), I am hugely influenced by Mr. Watterson’s ability to draw anything, anything at all, with a simple twirl of ink from a brush. The next time you see a Calvin & Hobbes book, take a closer look at all of the background and environment, the trees, snow, cars, landscapes. Gorgeous, and they communicate so much information with so little ink and (seemingly) effort.

3. A Hearbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. If you don’t know Dave Eggers, please do. He’s the Editor of McSweeney’s, and an uber-talented writer (novels and screenplays). This is his memoir of raising his brother after the death of his parents, and trying to start a magazine and get his career off the ground at the same time. We have two kids, and we’re trying to grow our studio day by day.

1. What made you decide to start bee things?
We love collecting books and ephemera. I (Jeff) would always tease Shay (whose nickname is “bee”) for collecting things and constantly rearranging and styling the house – I would come home from work and there would be a new something, and I would say “there’s another bee thing”. That’s where the name came from. We have always been creative, makers of thing, and we really never turn that off. Once we were married, we wanted to do something together, but we never knew what exactly that would be. When Shay was pregnant with our first son, I would make her a snack bag every day to take to work, and draw birds or bugs or whatever on them everyday, and people would comment on them and say “you should make those and sell them!”, and that sort of started it. Our house had custom-built shed in the back, and we converted it into a little screen printing studio without really knowing 100% if we would like it, but luckily, we loved it. We started printing illustrations on snack bags (we still do), and as we got better at it we started making art prints and other things. We feel so lucky in in life, and feel fortunate to have work coming our way and two healthy kiddos, we wanted our work to be happy, and we wanted to make things that we love to share our happy.

2. What’s your process for conceiving new designs/illustrations?
Being a husband and wife, we have a great advantage in that we can talk and bat ideas around anytime. One of us will have an idea while we’re brushing our teeth, and we’ll talk about it and go sketch it down. I (Jeff) can’t tell you how many ideas I’ve lost over the years because I didn’t have someone to bounce it off of or sketched it down. We work well that way. But as far as our process goes, we always sketch out ideas first to hammer out the big picture, and get the design far along on paper (it saves so much time to ideate that way) before we get on the computer. Then Jeff usually does the actual illustration, and then we talk about it back and fourth and get it to where we both are happy with it.Then we print it, but that’s a whole other article.

3. What do you regret not learning while you were in school?
We both wish we had taken more printmaking classes, now that that’s what we’re doing. We’ve had to learn as we go, trial and error. I’m sure there are probably better ways to do some of the things we’re doing, but we’re doing what works for us.

4. What’s your most valuable ability? i.e. conceptualization, hand/computer skills, etc.
Jeff: Shay is amazing at color theory and art direction, knowing what people will like. She takes the renderings of the prints I do and really knows how to hone them, soften them, make them really appealing. She has this amazing ability to read the trends and know what people will like.

Shay: Jeff is very conceptual, a very smart thinker, and a gifted illustrator – had this crazy ability to take a complex thing and make it into its most simple graphic form. I hate him sometimes. And he can also interpret and illustrate in a lot of different ways. He can take the same bird, for example, and make it graphic, or hand drawn, or cartoony, or textured, or collage, or cut paper. All of our prints are a mix of styles but feel like they came from the same happy place.

5. What is the most exciting aspect of the art/design world right now?
It’s an exciting time right now. There’s a handmade revolution, an illustration revival going on right now. The 90s and early 00s were all about Photoshop and 3-D rendering, slick and glossy. Look at movie posters and ads – all slick effects. There’s a backlash against that, which happens with any trend. We’re noticing a lot of movie posters and tv ads that use illustration. It’s really refreshing and wonderful to see. It opens everyone up to doing more of that, and the general visual landscape is far more rich for it.

6. If you could move anywhere right now, in consideration of the art/design scene, where would you go?
London. We love London. The whole city is well designed, down to the public transportation, the posters, the museum exhibits, everything.

7. What’s your daily routine?
That’s the best part about what we do: we don’t have one. Every day is different. We may draw one day, print the next, pick at the website (new one coming soon!), or read. And we don’t mean to make it sound like everything is wonderfully fun all of the time, we do billing and figure out wholesale prices and do production. And because we’re still growing bee things, we still have our day jobs (Jeff runs his own studio, BarfootWorldwide, and I (Shay) am a Senior Art Director at Fossil, and oversee the catalogue group).

8. What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you, regarding design or otherwise?
We are constantly looking, always have our eyes always open for things that might inspire us. We’ve really made being creative our lifestyle, not just our jobs, so we never really turn it off. It’s like being a writer or comedian in that way – if you shut off your brain while you’re not actually writing, you miss all kinds of input and things that would trigger ideas or jokes.

9. In illustration/design, do you think is it more important to have a very distinct and solid style or have more of a range of styles?
Both. We really strive to have a range of styles but with consistent feel to everything. We want our work to have enough variety so that it’s interesting for someone to see everything we do and not get tired after seeing a few images, but they can’t be so different that they don’t feel like “us” anymore. We try to explore and experiment, but stay true to our “brand” or flavor of work.

10. Who would you call a mentor / attribute as the inspiration in how you work / do things?
Each other.

See more work and goodies at www.bee-things.com.

Most schools teach you about how to kern and rag. Most schools teach you about color and form. But not all of them teach you the part that can be the gateway between being a student designer and a real world designer. This February through April, Good For Grasshopper in partnership with We Are 1976 will be offering our first workshop series—a group of classes put together to help you make that transition—from polishing your portfolio presentation to getting an interview and acing it. At the end of the series will be a mock interview speed-dating session so you can practice what you’ve learned with some local industry leaders.

The workshop schedule is as follows:

WS1: Look Good: Portfolio Presentation — Sunday, February 21, 2010
Add some polish to your portfolio. Get tips on how to present your work, from what to show and what order to show it to customized books and presenting a great portfolio on a tiny budget.

WS2: Look Good 2: Getting The Interview — Sunday, March 7, 2010
Some more portfolio polishing in the form of PDF previews, portfolio websites and snail mailers.

WS3: Talk Good 1: How To Interview — Sunday, March 21, 2010
Learn the fine points of interviewing and presenting yourself. Learn how to use the research you did in class to present yourself like seasoned professionals.

WS4: Talk Good 2: Mock Interviews — Sunday, April 11, 2010
Take everything you’ve learned and practice with industry leaders. Get tips and critique and maybe a call back! (time and date may change to allow for more students to participate)

Register early as spots will be limited. Register for one workshop or for all*. Workshops will last two hours each and will take place at We Are 1976 @ 1902 N. Henderson Avenue, Dallas, TX 75206. You can register for these workshops here: http://goodforgrasshopper-workshops.eventbrite.com/

*Make sure to register for the ones you can attend, and don’t just register for the ones you want to attend. Spots are limited, and we want to make sure that there are no accidental empty seats. More workshops will be added if the demand is high.

Where you first worked (in design / illustration, etc):
My first real design job was at Planet Propaganda after I finished school; Melissa was the designer for the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health, Department of Surgery (a job I was always jealous of). Both of these answers are really cheating, though, because we’d already been doing Little Friends for a few years at that point and were somewhat known already. So I guess Little Friends was really our first design job.

Favorite book ever (design or non-design related):
I like One Hundred Years of Solitude by Marquez, Melissa prefers Wonderland by Oates.

Recommended design / thinking / illustration book(s):
The Archigram monograph, or 100 B&W Illustrations by Raymond Biesinger

1. What made you decide to become designers/illustrators/printmakers?
It’s easy to see the benefit of printmaking– Just the idea of making multiples has so much practical and conceptual appeal; plus there are all sorts of process-oriented rabbit holes to explore. You could spend your whole life making prints without having to repeat yourself. Moving into design & illustration was a natural outcropping of what we were doing with our prints. We were already trying to do something with a conceptual underpinning, something that went beyond being decorative or formalistic, and at that point you’re already halfway towards illustration anyway. Illustration & design just became another venue for our “unique” set of problem-solving skills.

2. What’s your process for conceiving new designs/illustrations?
We let the subject matter guide us to a large degree. We research. There’s a lot of staring into space involved. We’ll spend a good three hours hashing out the particulars of the design problem between the two of us, usually in the form of very petulant complaining. It’s a good thing no one else is around to hear it.

3. What do you regret not learning while you were in school?
Maybe some CompSci stuff. If we had some leet developer skillz, our game would be so much tighter.

4. What’s your most valuable ability? i.e. conceptualization, hand/computer skills, etc.
It’s conceptualization. The quality of your ideas is the one thing that defines you as an artist or a designer– because after a certain point, we’re all talented, and you can’t count on luck. So you have to develop a process of conceptualization that works. Whether it’s design literacy & connoisseurship, or finding a partner that challenges you, or looking at what everybody else is doing and just running the other way– whatever, just do it.

5. What is the most exciting aspect of the art/design world right now?
The internet, because you can try anything.

6. If you could move anywhere right now, in consideration of the art/design scene, where would you go?
We were looking at Portland, Oregon recently, thinking about a moving there within the next few years. A lot of artists and designers we know live there, and it would be fun to be a part of a community of our peers instead of a couple of hermits. That’s the boring, realistic answer. The fun answer would be Mexico City or Berlin, or both, using some kind of not-yet-invented spatial displacement technology that would allow us to have a chicharron in one hand and a pretzel in the other, looking at two art openings, one with each eye.

7. What’s your daily routine?
We get up at 10am, take calls and check e-mails, eat breakfast, play with the cats, and then start working, with intermittent food and internet breaks… Then ten or eleven hours later we watch TV and go to bed. You may have noticed that none of the stuff on that list took place outside the confines of our house. So, yeah. Non-stop excitement.

8. What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you, regarding design or otherwise?
Take lots of breaks.

9. In illustration/design, do you think is it more important to have a very distinct and solid style or have more of a range of styles?
Having a distinct style and honing it and developing it has been our approach. It’s important to us. Of course, we come from a fine art background, where the notion of authorship carries more weight; In graphic design, there’s a prevailing notion of “whatever works best, works best.” It’s hard to argue with that, so there is a certain validity to being able to fake a bunch of different people’s styles, although if you ever meet those people in person they might give you the stink-eye (or worse).

10. Who would you call a mentor / attribute as the inspiration in how you work / do things?
We don’t have a mentor, but we would like one. We’re currently mentor-deficient. If there’s an older, famous designer out there that wants to be best buds with us and provide us with sage advice, we are currently accepting applications. Visually, we’re inspired by little details and arcana. I could spend an hour looking at the stitching on a hockey sweater or a web page that just shows bus stop signs from different cities; Just give me something to look at. And the person who most inspired us when we were first figuring things out was Geoff Mcfetridge. The thing that really impressed us was the wide variety of kinds of work he did. He’s sort of a design omnivore, and that’s been a model for our approach to design.

Visit the Little Friends of Printmaking website here.

Name + Company:
Ben Barry / Facebook

Education Background (school / self taught, etc):
University of North Texas (BFA in Communication Design). Internships with Voelter Architecture, The Decoder Ring, & Newhouse Design. I also participated in Project M 2007.

Where you first worked (visual/commdes job, etc):
My first graphic design job was a part time student job at the University of North Texas Center for Distributed Learning. My first graphic design job after graduating was at The Decoder Ring.

Favorite book ever (design or non-design related):
This is an impossibly hard question to answer. I think it’s probably one I haven’t read yet.

Recommended design / thinking / creativity / illustration book(s):
Mainly I prefer monographs. I find it more interesting to read stories about individual designers or companies because it gives me an insight into how people whom I admire have achieved the level of success that they have.

I have an enormous library, it’s really quite a hassle to move. I do read a lot, but most of the books I have are things that I consider resources. Non design books that interest me for one reason or another.

I also have lots of other books of rules or ways to approach design, I think they’re boring, and I rarely look at them.

1. What got you into what you do?
I got into graphic design in general by a bit of luck. I’d always enjoyed drawing as a kid, and I can look back now and see other signs of a young designer at work. In Jr. High School I became interested in wanting to become an architect, and in High School I took CAD classes and ended up doing an internship as a draftsman my senior year. At the same time I was starting to goof around with Photoshop and building my first websites. I ultimately decided I wanted to be a web designer when I went to college. The closest thing they had was called “Communication Design”. I was hooked from day one. I still sometimes design for the web, but have found a true passion for designing identity systems, posters, icons, and illustrations.

2. What’s your process for coming up with new designs/illustrations?
It varies a lot from project to project. I start with researching the project and defining the problem. I draw anything that comes to mind, make lots of word lists, and look for interesting connections. Once I have an idea or direction I just make it. Sometimes I do lots of explorations, sometimes I just do one.

3. What do you regret not learning while you were in school?
How to draw. It is something that at the time I did not value or focus my energies on. Now as I increasingly get into doing more and more illustration work I feel I’m racing to catch up with some of my peers.

4. What’s your most valuable ability? i.e. conceptualization, hand/computer skills, etc.
Communicating complex ideas. Simply.

5. What do you think is the most exciting aspect of the art/design world right now?
Building systems to better organize the worlds information and the way we communicate as a civilization. It’s not what I do personally, because it’s not the type of design work that interests me or that I feel good at. However, I use my skills to help promote and communicate the ideas and messages of those doing this kind of work.

6. If you could move anywhere right now/stay anywhere, in consideration of the art/design scene, where would you go & why?
Right now I’m pretty happy right where I am. I feel like I’m at one of the most exciting companies of this decade in a position to help shape the future of their design and communications. It is a huge challenge, and I’m not going to pretend there aren’t days that I’m not frustrated, but at the end of the day I can’t imagine a place for greater potential impact.

7. What’s your daily routine?
It depends a lot on the day. Usually though I wake up, get dressed, hop on my bicycle, ride to the train station, get on the train, check and respond to email, organize my daily tasks, get off the train, ride to the office, eat breakfast, do shit, listen to this american life, eat lunch, do more shit, eat dinner, ride to the train, work on personal projects on the train ride home, ride home, sleep, repeat.

8. What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you, regarding design or otherwise?
The foolish wait.

9. In illustration/design, do you think is it more important to have a very distinct and solid style or have more of a range of styles?
That depends a lot on your own personal aspirations. I used to be very much against having a distinctive style. Even so my work has developed a certain continuity that I think is beneficial.

10. Who would you call a mentor / attribute as the inspiration in how you work / do things?
Christian Helms, Michael Newhouse, & John Bielenberg.

Andre and Dan gave me permission to post their Q&A section to the GFG site. Both will be speaking at the Dallas Society of Visual Communications monthly meeting in November.

From NeverSleepBook.com:

BRINGING SAMPLES TO INTERVIEWS

I AM HAVING AN INTERVIEW COMING UP AND I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK YOU GUYS: THOUGH THIS WILL NOT BE MY FIRST INTERVIEW, THIS WOULD BE MY DREAM JOB IF I REALLY GET IT. I HAVE SOME BOOKLET PIECES FOR MY PORTFOLIO, SUCH AS A BOOK, AND SOME BROCHURE AND THE CD PACKAGES. I WONDER DO I JUST KEEP THEM IN MY PORTFOLIO AS IT IS OR IS IT A BAD IDEA TO ASK HIM FLIP THROUGH ALL MY BOOKLET PROJECTS?
Olivia Chen

It is best to have photographs of these books/booklets in your portfolio. You can bring them with you too, but sometimes this can be a bit troublesome to flip through a bunch of extra books on top of your portfolio and gets tough to manage what to show when etc.

Having photos of the cover and some spreads from these in your portfolio just streamlines the process of showing your work. If they seem into a project and want to see it more in depth you can pull it out of your bag and show them.

ON PROCESS

IN COLLEGE I FEEL I HAVE LEARNED AND GROWN A LOT AS A DESIGNER AND BECOME A BETTER DESIGNER BECAUSE OF THAT BUT ONE THING I NOTICED NOW COMPARED TO BEFORE IS THAT I FIND MYSELF ALWAYS WANDERING IF I’M DOING THE PROJECT THE WAY I SHOULD AND ALWAYS SECOND GUESSING MYSELF. I ALWAYS END UP PRODUCING GREAT WORK BUT THE PROCESS OF GETTING THERE I FIND MYSELF CONSTANTLY FEELING LIKE I’M DOING IT WRONG UNTIL SOMEONE TELLS ME THAT I’M ON THE RIGHT TRACK THEN I FEEL BETTER ABOUT IT. I FEEL AS THOUGH I DWELL ON THE “RULES” AND IN DOING SO, THEY HOLD ME BACK. ANY TIPS ON HOW OR WHAT I CAN DO TO GET PAST THAT?
Casey Kovach

Yup, there are several ways to get outta that. One way is to give yourself tight time constraints on work. Say you are designing a poster, try designing it in one hour, six hours, one day. You will notice that if you only have one hour to do something you trust your intuition a lot more because you don’t have the time to over think things. Sometimes this is good, sometimes not. Ask your friends or a teacher what they think about the work to get a second opinion.

Another thing you can do is limit the methods of production. Say you are working on that poster again. What if you designed the whole thing using a photocopy machine? What if you just used masking tape? Or what if you had to use only brushes? What if it was only simple type or icons or photography? Those simple restraints will give your piece a very specific look that you might not achieve by simply jumping on the computer. Sagmeister is particularly good at this. His process is usually evident in the final pieces which make a good story…

STARTING A STUDIO

HEY GUYS, I LOVE YOUR WORK AND I TOO HAVE ALWAYS ASPIRED TO START UP MY OWN DESIGN STUDIO IN THE FUTURE. RIGHT NOW, I AM JUST GETTING OUT OF COLLEGE AND I HAVE BEEN STRUGGLING WITH AS YOU SAY, MY “TRANSITION FROM A DESIGN STUDENT TO BECOMING A DESIGN PROFESSIONAL” I REALLY WANT TO WORK AT A STUDIO THAT IS FUN AND CREATIVE AND THAT HAS A LAYED BACK ENVIRONMENT, MUCH LIKE WHAT I IMAGINE YOUR DESIGN STUDIO IS LIKE, WORKS HARD AND PRODUCES GREAT, CREATIVE WORK BUT STILL KNOWS HOW TO HAVE FUN. ANY TIPS ON THINGS I COULD DO TO GET TO THAT POINT? OR THINGS YOU GUYS HAVE DONE THAT HELPED YOU TO GET WHERE YOU ARE?
Casey Kovach

To be honest, there are too many things to list. There’s nothing specific that got us here. It was a build up of many difference experiences. Here is a short rundown: we always wanted to do this and made a point to collaborate from early on. Although we got jobs straight outta school we never lost the OG vision of starting the studio. We gave it a name and made a site, that gave it a public face and that was important because all of the sudden it looked real. Once we established ourselves (read, we made all of the mistakes young designers make on someone else’s dime) we started saving our money and eventually got one big job which helped us quit our 9-5′s..

Keeping your eye on the goal of where you want to be and working hard are probably the simplest pieces of advice to get to where you want to be though. They both seem stupid simple, but you would be surprised how easy it is to get off track or just settle with an ok job.

PDF PORTFOLIO

I’M JOB HUNTING (FRESH OUT OF SCHOOL FOR THE SECOND TIME), AND I WONDERED IF YOU HAVE ANY WISDOM TO IMPART CONCERNING THE PDF. I HAVE A WEBSITE, I HAVE A REGULAR-SIZED PORTFOLIO, BUT EVERY NOW AND THEN SOMEONE IN HR SAYS, ” SEND US A PDF OF YOUR WORK”…AND THIS WASN’T EVEN COVERED IN SCHOOL. HOW MANY PAGES SHOULD IT BE? HOW ON EARTH DO I GET SOME OF THOSE GIGANTICALLY-SIZED LAYOUTS IN SOMETHING MANAGEABLE TO EMAIL? WHAT SHOULD I COVER?
JJ Morris

That’s a good questions with which we still struggle. Often our clients will want us to present in a PDF format as well. This is a problem because when we aren’t in the physical room with our clients its hard to judge their reactions and its even harder to convince them that something is a good idea.

Now, when it comes to your portfolio its a little different. People usually ask for a PDF portfolio because its easy to store on file. Imagine a creative director who is very busy. Its much easier for them to flip through a stack of 20-30 PDFs rather than figure out their way around 20-30 different websites (especially ones that don’t work or take too long to load).

The good thing about PDF is that you can tailor them depending on what kind of job you are after. We like when people are very selective about the work they put in. 10 good projects is better than 20 ok ones. After all, the PDF can be an appetizer for them to ask you for an interview so you don’t have to show all of your work. Small file sizes are much better. You don’t want to email someone a file bigger than 6mbs because it can clog up their email. The best way to compress is within indesign. When you export it will give you the option for smallest file size — that’s usually ok.

MOVING TO NEW YORK

I’M MOVING TO THE CITY (NEW YORK) IN A FEW MONTHS AFTER I GRADUATE. I DON’T HAVE A JOB YET…JUST FINISHING UP MY PORTFOLIO WEBSITE. HOWEVER, IS IT BAD OUT THERE RIGHT NOW? DO YOU THINK THERE ARE A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR ME OUT THERE? I’VE BEEN SEARCHING, BUT I FEEL LIKE NO ONE’S HIRING.
Kelsey Higgs

It is hard everywhere right now. In New York a lot of firms have been laying people off so it may take some time to break in here. This is not an easy job market in any field. But if you are talented and persistent there is always a place for you in time. It just might not be your dream job right away.

But stick with it and don’t be snobby—because any lead can take you somewhere. And if you don’t get your dream job make sure you are doing stuff on your own time to stay fresh and get good portfolio pieces. Because the longer you stay in a crap job doing crap work the harder it is to move to a better firm.

ON FREELANCE

WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON TAKING ON FREELANCE JOBS AS A DESIGN STUDENT? HOW WOULD YOU DETERMINE YOUR PRICING? DO YOU THINK STUDENTS HAVE ANY ADVANTAGES OVER THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN IN THE BUSINESS FOR YEARS?
Grant Priest

Freelance can be a great idea for design students. It lets you see what it’s like designing for an actual client with all the things that entails: keeping them happy, delivering on time, staying within a budget, making sure you are also happy with the project, etc. And you have to deal with production issues like building mechanicals, choosing materials, talking to printers, programming, rendering, etc. All these are valuable things to have experience with, that will only make you more marketable when you graduate. And the more printed or actual work you have in your portfolio the better.

The advantage that students have over more experienced designers is that you can take on jobs with budgets or a smaller scale that someone with a few more years in the game might not want to mess with. Also, you are probably way hipper and more in tune to what is going on culturally than people who are older than you. Youth and knowing what is hot on the streets is a huge asset that out of touch people will pay a premium for.

PROJECTS OVER YOUR HEADS

DO YOU EVER SAY YES TO A PROJECT WHEN YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW YOU ARE GOING TO DO IT? I DO THIS A FAIR AMOUNT AND IT NEVER FAILS TO GET THE ADRENALINE MOVING. SO FAR THINGS HAVE WORKED OUT OKAY BUT I NEVER KNOW FOR SURE!
Lindsay Green

Now that we started our firm we run into this problem less and less. Our model is to hire freelancers when we need the extra help or when we have a specialized job. However, we still do the majority of the work ourselves. We find it pretty enticing to start work in things we know nothing about. That’s one of the best things about being a designer — having the conceptual ability to think of ideas beyond what you are used to working on. We haven’t had any terrible experiences with things outside our comfort zone. Although, we aren’t the most talented writers, animators, photographers, (etc) we have established relationships with friends who are more talented in those areas.

As far as being a young designer (as I assume) — its the best time to experiment with things beyond your comfort zone. Our book chronicles many forays into projects beyond our capabilities. And even in our biggest failures we were taught some of our most valuable lessons.

WEBSITES

SHOULD EVERY DESIGNER HAVE A WEBSITE WITH A PORTFOLIO?
Al River

The short answer is yes, ofcourse. You can probably get by by sending a PDF but a website is pretty much necessary. PDF’s are great to send for particular jobs because you can tailor your work to the specific job. Sites on the other hand are easy for people to come back to and share with others. We recommend doing something simple, html based. Indexhibit is a great tool to put up a simple portfolio site and its free.

DESIGN RESUME

I AM CURRENTLY SEEKING INTERNSHIPS, AND MY RESUME IS VERY BASIC. DO YOU SUGGEST, FOR FUTURE REFERENCE, PUTTING A LITTLE BIT OF “ME” IN THE RESUME? WHETHER IT’S A SELF PORTRAIT, OR DESIGNING A RESUME THAT SHOWS WHO I AM, VERSUS WRITING WHO I AM?
Kelsey Higgs

The resume thing is tough. If you think you can add more of your personality without it getting cheesy or in the way of the communication then this could work. If it is too over the top it might shoot you in the foot though. On a first glance appearing credible and professional is more important than your personal preferences.

FIRST JOB = CAREER?

A LOT IS MADE OF YOUR FIRST JOB AND THAT IT CAN DETERMINE THE DIRECTION OF NEXT JOB OR YOUR CAREER. I FIGURE THAT IF I WORK HARD ON MY OWN STUFF AND TAKE SOMETHING SOLID IN A MAJOR CITY IT MAKES IT EASIER TO MOVE TO A BETTER STUDIO. WHAT ARE YOUR OPINIONS ON THIS?
Jon Pfeiffer

Yes your first job can determine a lot. If you work for a company that is sub par for a few years chances are the jobs that will be available when you start looking again will be of the same caliber or maybe just a tad better but probably not top shelf. For sure you have a good strategy,if you can’t get your dream job right out of school. Moving to the city you want to live and taking a job you are not as thrilled about to get established and pay your rent is smart if nothing else is available. You can work to push yourself and gain experience at your day job—learning whatever you can and trying to get the most out of it. But in order to move up in the game at night and on the weekends you need to do your own self initiated or freelance stuff to beef up your portfolio.

GETTING TO THE NEXT LEVEL

I JUST FINISHED MY BACHELOR IN COMMUNICATION DESIGN AND GOT A JOB AS A GRAPHIC DESIGNER BACK HOME IN SWITZERLAND. I PUT MYSELF UNDER CONSTANT PRESSURE BECAUSE I FEEL I’M NOT GOOD ENOUGH AND DON’T HAVE STANDARD LEVEL THOUGH I GRADUATED TOP 15% AT THE UNIVERSITY… WHEN DID YOU GUYS START TO FEEL CONFIDENT ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE DOING? ABOUT YOUR LEVEL OF WORK?
Markus Isler

In college we were both very confident about what we were doing (sometimes maybe too confident). When we graduated the reality that we were competing with everyone else in the world who called themselves a designer — for jobs, for clients, for notoriety — set in. It is a pretty competitive world out there and just because you were talented in university means little once you graduate. You are your own harshest critic and know yourself best. So if you are feeling that you are not good enough or you need to push yourself even further then keep doing it. It is easy to just give up, take a shit job and collect a check but this never ends well. All creative people are self-conscious and personally I have a fear that I will be exposed for being a hack (no matter how good I actually am). This never really happens, its just part of being a human. But let that doubt drive you to become a better designer, rather than paralyzing you from doing anything for fear that you aren’t good enough.

PERSONAL PROJECTS

I AM CURRENTLY OUT OF WORK NOW AND LOOKING TO GAIN SOME VALID EXPERIENCE. I’M LOOKING TO TRY TO GET SOME MORE PERSONAL PROJECTS AND JUST NOT SURE WHAT TYPE OF WORK I NEED.
Breanne Kostyk

Thanks for the note and sorry to hear that you are out of work. If you have down time while you are out of work keep doing more projects on your own but have them be for real stuff. If you want to be a book designer do fake book covers, or menu designer do fake menus. Then use these “personal” projects as promotional pieces and send them out to potential employers. Many designers get noticed for personal work and just because you don’t have a real client doesn’t mean you don’t have a voice.

BFA OR NO BFA

IS IT IMPORTANT TO GRADUATE WITH A BFA OR NOT? DO YOU THINK THAT WILL BE A PROBLEM WHEN I’M JOB HUNTING?
Anthony Bryant

For sure it is important to graduate from college. Both Andre and I contemplated dropping out before graduation and were glad we didn’t. Your last year is where you really get to flex your muscles. You have all the bullshit our of the way; can finally think up crazy solutions, make stuff look pretty, and know all the technical stuff. If you quit before then the job you get will never be up to the level of the position you could have gotten with degree. Or not even with the degree, more with the work you make in your last year. Plus you it will probably always be in the back of your mind how you didn’t actually graduate from college and how you have nothing to hang in that diploma frame next to your desk. As long as your work is good enough, the studio shouldn’t discriminate, but it could be a reason for paying you less…

CALLING PEOPLE BACK

I RECENTLY WAS TALKING TO A MARKETING COMPANY WHO SCHEDULED A PHONE INTERVIEW AND NEVER CALLED, SHOULD I TAKE IT PERSONALLY? I’M INCLINED TO THINK THEY WERE JUST BUSY AND DOUBLE-BOOKED, BUT THEN WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT THEM AS A COMPANY? CARE TO SHARE SOME INSIGHTS?
Dan Ridge

Hey Dan, No, never take anything personally. The firm was probably too busy and forgot your call. You should nicely remind them to call you again. When you call, let them know that you are still interested in working for them and are just checking in on rescheduling. Honestly, we forget things like that all the time. Although it doesn’t reflect good on the company, you shouldn’t give up hope. Just realize that it is your job to stay on top of things, not theirs Also, contact other places and don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.

PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR WORK

I ALWAYS HAVE THE HARDEST TIME PHOTOGRAPHING POSTERS OR THREE-DIMENSIONAL WORK FOR MY PORTFOLIO. DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS HOW TO GET A PROFESSIONAL LOOKING PICTURE WHEN PHOTOGRAPHING WORK?
Inva Cota

Hey Inva, you should Invest in a high quality digital SLR (around $500 these days) and a quality flash (around $200). It’s best to shoot indoors at night or somewhere where you control the lighting. White balance the camera to the flash and whatever lighting you are using. When shooting, point the flash upwards so that the light bounces off the ceiling. Have a computer near by to see the photographs and adjust settings like the white balance and ISO to get the best results. It’s also nice to mock up work in the actual environment. Take street photos of posters and billboards and Photoshop your designs as though they were actually on the street. That will give your projects more legitimacy.

INTERNSHIPS

ARE THERE CERTAIN TYPES OF INTERNSHIPS THAT ARE MORE BENEFICIAL FOR STUDENTS, OTHER THAN THE FACT THAT THEY INVOLVE YOU MORE IN THE DESIGN PROCESS?
John Lui

Internships are a very personal thing John, so it’s hard for us to say what is best for you. But they are a great way for you to test the places you want to work and the types of projects you are interested in without a huge commitment. The more the merrier actually because you will see what works and what is a bore, while learning how different sized companies are structured and operate. Then when you graduate you will know what you want out of your dream job. Or you can stay at one place and work your way up through the ranks. By all means if you dig a place stay on board because people love to hire their interns. They are checking you out just as much as you are checking them out.

ARE GREAT DESIGNERS BORN OR MADE?

IF THEY ARE MADE, WHEN DO YOU KNOW TO STOP LEARNING AND START DOING?
Justin McDonald

Hey Justin.
We think they are made for the most part.

We got to where we are by working our asses off. Neither of us claim to be supernaturally talented, though Andre is pretty close. It took us time to hone our abilities (as you can see from all the crap work in this book). Going to one of the better design schools in the country didn’t hurt, and we were fortunate enough to study with amazing teachers. There were a lot of kids in school who had more natural talent then we did, but they may not have worked as hard, been as disciplined, or cared.

Knowing what we wanted from design and having an idea of where we wanted to take our careers was huge. If you don’t know what you want it’s easy to end up designing credit cards, or the phone book. Creating goals big or small is a good way to avoid settling.

Also we are good at presenting ourselves. If you can’t sell yourself and your ideas you will end up working for someone who can sell them for you.

Then comes luck. Luck doesn’t seem to strike if you are sitting around smoking weed and tripping off your screen saver. When you work hard people will notice and in turn you will get better opportunities and be surrounded by like-minded people.

THINKING TOO BIG

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THINKING TOO BIG, AND THINKING TOO SMALL AS FAR AS CONCEPTS GO?
Matt Rappo

This is an interesting question to ponder matt. Thinking too small can be lame — the expected solution or doing what everyone else is doing. Thinking too big can lead you to a great idea, but it might be too hard to execute on time. Deadlines and budgets play a huge roll in the creative process when you get out of school. So it’s all about coming up with the best solution within the constraints that are given or rethinking or reframing the problem so it fits within new ones. Think big when you have lots of constrains to try and push the envelope of what is possible within the parameters and limit yourself when you have nothing holding you back or else you might get lost in a sea of options.

RATES

WHAT IS AN APPROPRIATE HOURLY RATE FOR FREELANCING WHEN YOU ARE A STUDENT? HOW DO YOU MAKE A SYSTEM OF PRICING FOR YOURSELF WHEN YOU ARE NOT QUITE A PROFESSIONAL, BUT ARE STILL PUTTING IN THE WORK?
Matt Owen

Matt this is a tough one since everyone is at different ability and skill levels. The first few times you quote your rate will be a learning experience since you’ll figure out quickly whether you went too high or low. We usually just put it back on whomever we are working for since most of the time they will feel bad dicking you over. If the fee sounds too low ask for more. Money is always a tough issue though; in general, bigger companies and advertising agencies tend to have more money than smaller studios or clients.

We do not work for hourly rates because this is too anal and the design process is a hard thing to measure in such a tangible calculation. Like, if you come up with an idea at night in the shower, does that count as an hour? We are not sure.

For certain jobs, we will work for little or no money because we believe in the work or we can have total creative control or it’s the type of work we want in our book. We have also been known to take on crap projects because they pay really well, but for these we ask astronomical amounts of money since working for stuff you aren’t into can be a drag.

IS IT ALL WORTH IT?

IS ALL THIS HARD WORK, STUDYING AND PAYING REALLY HIGH TUITION WORTH THE HASSLE? WILL IT REALLY LAND ME A NICE JOB? WILL IT MAKE ME BETTER THAN MOST ASPIRING GRAPHIC DESIGNERS OUT THERE? I HAVE WORKED BEFORE FULL-TIME AND I CAN SAY THAT STUDYING IS ACTUALLY HARDER THAN WORKING. HAHA…MIGHT BE A STUPID QUESTION THAT EVERYBODY KNOWS THE ANSWER TO… EXCEPT ME. CHEERS!
Johann Pascual

Johann, short answer, yes it’s all worth it. Longer answer, maybe it’s all worth it. For us, hard work pays off for sure. As you mentioned, school costs a shit ton, so you might as well get your moneys worth. Plus, the harder you work, the stronger your work will be, the more your teachers and peers will take notice, and the better opportunities you will have. Don’t be concerned about being the best, just concentrate on being good and people will notice. Dream jobs are hard to get so if you don’t land your dream job right away you shouldn’t get discouraged. You can always concentrate on doing great work while freelancing at night and on the weekends to build up your portfolio so you can keep getting better and better jobs. There is nothing more fulfilling than falling in love with what you do, so yeah, long story short, it’s probably all worth it.

COFFEE

IS THERE ANY BETTER WAY TO KEEP MYSELF AWAKE APART FROM CONSUMING CAFFEINE?
Elizabeth Chiu

Do jumping jacks elizabeth or push-ups, go for a walk, work for an hour and then take a break, or get up and move around. The more you practice staying up, the easier it will be. It’s like a marathon; you have to warm up to it. Eating also helps, but be careful since mouse clicking isn’t the most calorie intensive exercise.

WHAT KIND OF DESIGNERS ARE FIRMS LOOKING FOR? WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU HAVE A PRESENTATION IN AN HOUR, BUT YOU ARE ABOUT TO PASS OUT?

Present your work fast and to the point. Let the teachers ask you questions if they want to know more. Do not make any excuses about being tired or about your work and stay confident.

ALIFE/WORK BALANCE

IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE A SUCCESSFUL GRAPHIC DESIGNER WHILE STILL MAINTAINING SOME SEMBLANCE OF A BALANCED LIFE? WHILE SLEEPLESS NIGHTS AND POURING EVERY LITTLE BIT OF ENERGY INTO A PROJECT CAN PRODUCE AMAZING RESULTS —HOW DO YOU BALANCE WORKING HARD WITH SIMULTANEOUSLY LIVING A FULFILLING LIFE AND HAVING TIME FOR THE OTHER THINGS YOU LOVE?
Ellie Clayman

To be honest ellie, i was debating that same thing on the train home today as the deadline for our book has passed four times and we are overwhelmed with other projects, teaching, lecturing, our day jobs, and my girlfriend complaining that she doesn’t see me enough. Life is all about balance and doing things you love. I know some very accomplished designers who have balanced lives. Yes, they may have a sleepless night here or there, but they have families and do other things that don’t involve a computer. What you do can be your life or your job. There is a grey area in between, but it’s hard to navigate and realize when to unplug. Andre and i are banking on the fact that if we bust our asses we will reach a certain level of success that will allow us to slow down a little and let people do some of the work for us. But in all honesty i doubt this will happen, because it’s like an addiction. My father is 56 and still works his ass off.

ON WORKLOAD

WHAT IS THE WORKLOAD LIKE COMPARED TO THE ONE WE HAVE AT SCHOOL?
Mathieu Stemmelen

This really all depends Mathieu. School is pretty intense since you are learning while juggling lots of classes and assignments. The project deadlines are unrealistic, though, and things move much faster outside of school. You will probably be juggling 5 or so projects at a time and the stakes are higher. If you mess up in school it’s usually ok since failure is sometimes inevitable. At your job, however, this same mistake might cost the company a lot of money, your job or your reputation.

You can probably find a job where design is your career. You can coast and make ok money doing ok work. Or you can bust your ass and devote a lot of your time and attention to stuff, taking on freelance or doing self-initiated projects. It depends on what you want out of design. It doesn’t have to be this black and white, but there is always something else out there you could be working on, reading, watching, or looking at. It really just depends on when you want to call it a night.

FANCY PORTFOLIO?

IS IT A WORTHWHILE TO BUY OR MAKE A FANCY SCHMANCY BOOK TO HOUSE YOUR WORK, OR IS THAT JUST A STUPID WASTE OF MONEY?
Matthew Eide

We find those big books pretty cheesy Matthew. Both of us made smaller books, which we printed and bound ourselves. We created enough copies to let people keep them, so when they needed help our work would be fresh in their minds. The big wood or metal portfolio is pretty dated since most people look for websites anyways.

LOOSING CONFIDENCE

DID/DO YOU EVER GO THROUGH PHASES WHERE YOU QUESTION YOUR DECISION TO BECOME A DESIGNER, AND IF SO, HOW DO YOU REKINDLE YOUR CONFIDENCE IN YOUR WORK?
Jess Von Sück

Hey Jess. We never really question our decision to become designers because design has taught us so much about problem solving, aesthetics, and presentation. However, we do question how long we will practice as designers. We love working in other mediums, like film, web, writing, but we still apply the same thinking we’d apply to design. This keeps things fresh so design is more fun to come back to. Rekindling confidence in your work is a whole other beast. When you have to constantly create new things and be fresh it is not uncommon to question your abilities or lose confidence in yourself. One of our biggest fears is that we will be uncovered and everyone will realize that we are hacks. We are sure other designers think this way as well, since most designers are quite self-conscious people. The key is to trust yourself, take on new challenges and not be afraid of mistakes — it’s only design.

RUNNING A BUSINESS

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO BECOME AN ENTREPRENEUR?
Rudo Krascenic

Thanks for the questions rudo! We started because we didn’t want to work for someone else and we had ideas of our own.

WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE WHILE PLANNING AND STARTING YOUR BUSINESS?

Coming up with a good name was hard. Getting enough money where we could sustain ourselves for at least a year was also tough. The biggest hurdle was the legalities of the business; things like taxes, invoicing, contracts, etc.

WAS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOU WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY?

Could have stayed in touch with more people.

DID YOU CONSIDER (AT ANY POINT) QUITTING YOUR ENTREPRENEUR CAREER?

No, starting our own business has been our dream since we were students.

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR ADVICE TO DESIGNERS WANTING TO START THEIR OWN BUSINESS?

Partnering up with someone who has the same work ethic, but different skills and sensibility. .

DO YOU THINK YOUR IDENTITY HAS ANY IMPACT ON THE SUCCESS OF THE STUDIO?

Yes, its huge. We really love designing our identity stuff. The main goals are to try and make ourselves laugh and be weird. Too many design companies take their identities for granted. Standing out is crucial.

HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR BUSINESS IDENTITY OFTEN (OR AT ALL)? IF YES, WHAT WERE THE REASONS?

We haven’t changed our logo, our website hasn’t changed (other than updates) but we keep redesigning our business cards, though. We take business cards for companies like kinkos or dog-walking people and recreate the cards with our info on them.

ART VS. DESIGN

A LOT OF TIMES, PEOPLE TALK ABOUT GRAPHIC DESIGN BEING “COMMERCIAL ART,” BUT THERE ARE LOTS OF PROJECTS DESIGNERS DO THAT AREN’T COMMERCIAL OR NECESSARILY MARKETABLE. THE QUESTION THAT A LOT OF STUDENTS ASK IS WHETHER SOMETHING THAT’S NOT COMMERCIAL IS STILL CONSIDERED “GRAPHIC DESIGN,” OR IF IT STARTS TO BECOME “ART.”
Nelson NG

Nelson, to me art is when I am servicing my own agenda and there is no client involved. Graphic design or commercial art is when I am doing a project for other people, I can still have an agenda, and most often do, in graphics, but the end product is for someone else and they give us money, opinions, or a pat on the back. To be honest the art versus design debate doesn’t concerns us much. We try to make good work and hopefully make ourselves laugh, no need to put a label on it. Milton Glaser and Stefan Sagmeister have both written on this subject and are much smarter.

SELF INITIATED WORK

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES INVOLVED IN WORKING ON YOUR OWN PRODUCTS AS COMPARED TO WORKING ON PROJECTS FOR CLIENTS?
Jacqueline C.L. Law

This is a great question Jacqueline and something we have dealt with a lot in the process of creating both this book and our documentary. Doing self-initiated projects is what we love more than anything else since there is the opportunity for complete creative control and to actually say something. We get excited anytime there is a chance to create the content rather than just packaging it. The problems or challenges are:

Creative control can be a blessing and a curse. When you work for someone else it is easy to say that they are making the wrong decisions, or to blame bad projects on clients. The moment you can say or do anything you realize how valuable constraints or other people’s opinions are. A way around this is to talk about the work with people whose opinions you value and respect, or to impose constraints on yourself.

Most of the time you have to rely on people to get large self-initiated projects done. This is easier said than done. Convincing them to invest time and energy into things with little to no budget can be tricky. People will usually agree because they are your friends, they believe in the project, they owe you a favor (thanks Wayne and Gibson), or because they can use the final product to promote themselves. The trick is to find people who you can count on, who share the same work ethic, and who are not totally established but looking to make a name for themselves. Even if they are your friends, make sure you sign a contract; things can get dicey.

Securing funding can be an arduous process; we paid for most of the movie out of pocket. For the book we made a proposal and shopped it around till we found someone who was interested. Usually if you believe in something, have a pretty solid idea, and a nice presentation, you can make anything happen as long as you are persistent. These things take time though; we have worked on both this book and our documentary for more than a year.

You can buy NeverSleep via Amazon.